Here's to the Night
by notgoodwithwords
Summary: It's prom at McKinley High! How will that affect our favorite Spanish teacher and our beloved guidance counselor?  I apologize for the lame summary. Believe me, the story is a lot better.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:** Hi everyone! This is the first story I have decided to publish on here. I think it's going to be a three or four chapter story. We'll see. Reviews are greatly appreciated!

Also, I do not own Glee. The rights to the show belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

As Will entered McKinley High School's gymnasium, he was flooded with a sense of nostalgia. Memories from his own junior prom had completely consumed him as he took in his surroundings. As he watched the student council finish hanging some last minute streamers and balloons before the class of 2012 arrived, he was taken back to his glory days. Fourteen years ago Will was in these students' shoes. He had just started dating Terri, he was making his way up in the Glee club, and he had dreams of moving to New York City to perform on Broadway when he graduated. When he was seventeen he was unstoppable. Now where was he? He was thirty-two, had a divorce under his belt, was literally in the same spot he was in fourteen years ago, and was alone. He had one shot at happiness with a certain ginger haired guidance counselor, but completely blew it. Sure, they still managed to reconcile and remain friends, but it would never be that simple for him. He was completely and irrevocably in love with her and nothing was going to change that. Will thought that would change when he tried to pursue Holly Holiday, but regardless of her long blonde hair, charm, and strong sense of sexuality, his mind would not drift away from Emma Pillsbury. She was his everything, despite the fact that she was now newly annulled from her former husband. Will was brought back to a conversation he had with Emma earlier that day.

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><p><em>He couldn't stop staring at her. She was perfect. She had her back facing him as she dusted off knickknacks on her bookshelf. Wearing her cute little plastic gloves, she moved around humming a tune softly to herself.<em>

_"Hey, Em," Will said as he tapped on her office door, making her jump._

_"Oh gosh, Will, you startled me. I was just doing some routine cleaning," she explained as she removed her gloves and threw them in the garbage, "What can I do for you?"_

_"I was just wondering if are going to the prom tonight." Will took a seat in one of the chairs in her office. "I'm chaperoning and I thought it might be a bit more enjoyable if I had a friend there. You know, that way__we can team up and yell at Puckerman when he tries to spike the punch," he grinned._

_"Yes, I'm chaperoning." Emma replied as she sat down across from him at her desk. "I'll never turn down an opportunity to get dressed up. Plus, getting to see you in a monkey suit has the potential to be__entertaining," Emma teased, "I'm just going to be a little late tonight._

_"Oh, how come?" Will asked._

_Emma froze. She hadn't told anyone about it yet, but this was Will, her Will. The same William Schuester who very graciously took the time to meticulously scrub off her grapes in the teachers' lounge three weeks prior._

_"I uh." She stumbled, "I'm meeting with Carl and the lawyers to sign the annulment papers tonight," she said quietly. _

_Will was shocked. He knew the annulment was inevitable. However, Emma hadn't mentioned anything of it. She had been opening up to him over the past couple of weeks about her OCD and they were really starting to get back on track and become close friends again, but Will wondered why she refrained from revealing this large piece of information._

_"Oh, Em," was all he could muster. As much as he hated Carl Howell, he did try to help Emma with her OCD, which he was grateful for. Not like it bothered him in any way, but it made him happy to see Emma seem more confident in herself, even though she was rather shattered right now._

_"Are you sure you want to come tonight? Is there anything I can do?" he asked._

_"I want to be there for the kids, Will." Emma explained, "I'll be fine. I'll need the distraction."_

_"Okay," Will offered a genuine smile. He then reached across her desk and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. He was surprised when she didn't flinch at his action and instead, squeezed back._

_"I'm always here for you, you know," he offered._

_"I know." She responded._

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><p>"Lookin' handsome tonight, Will" Shannon exclaimed, breaking him from his thoughts. She then pulled him into a bear hug. "Are you ready for this?" she asked. Will then looked at Shannon, who was actually dressed in a simple black cocktail dress and heels.<p>

"Wow Shannon, you look wonderful" Will replied, "And yeah, I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He then looked over to the punch bowl where Puck and some of the other football players were lurking.

"Puckerman," he warned, "Remember the contract."

"Yes, Mr. Schue." The teen responded and retreated away. Will then turned his attention back to Beiste.

"It's going to be a long night."

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><p>Emma walked into McKinley about forty minutes after prom had actually begun. The meeting with Carl and the lawyers had moved much faster than she had initially planned, but what she did not account for were the many tears that would follow, hence why she was now forty minutes late. After she had calmed down, Emma took a shower, did her hair and makeup, quickly threw her dress on, and then headed over to McKinley as fast as she possibly could. As difficult as the evening was up to this point, Emma was excited for the prom. Playing dress up was one of her favorite things and she had purchased the most perfect dress for tonight's occasion. It was a forest green knee length cocktail dress. The thick straps hung loosely on the edge of her shoulders and she showed much more skin than Emma was typically comfortable with. However, she loved the way this dress looked on her. She also paired it with one of her favorite diamond flower brooches. She couldn't wait to wear it and then go see all of her students dressed in their best attire as well.<p>

Yet, the one thing she wanted most tonight was to see Will. She was in love with him. It took her a little while to come to terms with the fact that he still had a strong hold over her heart, but when Holly had asked her about her feelings, she couldn't deny them. She couldn't lie to Carl and Emma most certainly could not lie to herself about it. As much of a mess as her marriage to Carl was, Emma kind of needed it in order to start getting better. She was grateful for Carl in that sense, even though she made a complete mess of things.

After locking her coat and purse in her office, Emma snuck in the side entrance to the gymnasium and was greeted by the entire junior class packed in like sardines at the center of the dance floor. She could not see a thing over the sea of bodies. She tried to spot Will and Shannon but there were just too many students. Emma looked at the mass of students and made eye contact with Finn Hudson who smiled and waved as he tried to dance in his tuxedo. She also saw Rachel and Jesse St. James dancing on a few feet away from Finn and Quinn. The only possible thing Emma could do was edge her way around the perimeter of the gym until she found some faculty member she could make small talk with. "Why hadn't she seen any yet?" she thought to herself. As Emma was walking she saw a break between the students. She looked across the gymnasium and then saw him. Will. He was standing off to the side talking to Shannon. Emma had never seen him look so handsome. Will had styled his hair differently. Instead of the thick curls she was used to, his hair was short and straightened. He was wearing a black pinstripe suit with a black button down and a forest green silk tie. She chuckled to herself when she realized they were matching again. However, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. He must've felt her staring at him because soon after his green eyes met her hazel orbs from across the dance floor. Emma thought he looked caught off guard at first, but he then gave her a reassuring, yet sympathetic smile. His eyes asked the question, "Are you okay?" With a simple nod of her head, Emma responded. She then noticed Will excuse himself from his conversation with Shannon and start to make his way across the dance floor, pushing through the many teenagers, and was venturing towards her. Within moments he was standing right in front of her.

"Hi,"

"Hi."


	2. Chapter 2

Hi guys! Thanks so much for the encouraging reviews. I really appreciate it. Keep em coming! I hope you enjoy this next chapter :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. The rights to the show belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Shannon was deep in conversation with Will when he had a feeling that someone was watching him. He had a hunch he knew who it was, but waited for Shannon to continue with her thoughts on Rosalita's Roadhouse and her history with the honky tonk bar. After Will agreed they should go out for drinks again, he quickly turned around to confirm his suspicions. What he saw completely took his breath away.

Emma was standing there directly across the dance floor. She had her usual surprised, doe-eyed look about her. Still, she was breathtaking. Will quickly eyed her up and down. Her dress was short and revealing, well, for Emma's standards, at least. The deep forest green contrasted her fair skin and brought out the fire in her ginger hair, which was curled and partially pulled back to one side. Will had never seen her look so beautiful. He realized he must've been looking at her strangely and quickly made eye contact with her again, giving her a reassuring smile. He analyzed her face for any signs of sadness or regret. He had hoped she was okay, considering the events that had taken place that afternoon. He asked her the simple question with his eyes, and he saw her smile and quickly nod her head. After breathing a sigh of relief he went to go excuse himself from his conversation with Shannon. Before he could say anything, Shannon gave him the encouragement he needed with three simple words.

"Go get her."

Will thanked her and turned back towards Emma, and the sea of bodies separating them. They maintained eye contact as he pushed his way through various students packed in on the dance floor, muttering "excuse me" and "sorry" until he broke through and was standing toe to toe with Emma Pillsbury.

"Hi."  
>"Hi," she breathed.<p>

They stood there for a few moments just staring at one another. Not knowing what came over her, Emma wrapped her arms around Will's waist and pulled him into a tight embrace. Will was pleasantly caught off guard by Emma's impulse and wrapped both of his arms around her small frame, crushing her against his chest. After a few moments they both pulled away.

"Sorry," she started, "I just needed that…rough afternoon."

"Emma, I…you…" Will fumbled over his words.

"I what?" she asked breathlessly.

"You look absolutely beautiful." He stated.

"Thank you." She blushed. "You look rather dashing yourself." She responded as she playfully fixed Will's tie. They locked eyes as Emma's hands remained on his chest. Emma then cleared her throat.

"So uh…how have things been going here? Did I miss anything?" she asked as she quickly. Will was disappointed to see her remove her hands from his chest and take a step away from him.

"You haven't missed much, just a lot of dancing. Everything has been under control," Will continued, "Only had a few run ins with Karofsky and Puckerman who tried to spike the punch bowl like I predicted, but I had it covered."

"Oh, well I'm glad you had that under control," Emma replied.  
>An awkward silence took to the pair as they stood and observed the Junior class dancing to the latest Ke$ha song. The tension was thick between the Spanish teacher and the guidance counselor. So many things needed to be said but now was neither the time nor the place to be discussing them.<p>

"So…" Will started, "It's uh, a beautiful night for prom. The kids really lucked out."

"Will," Emma turned and faced him, "It's me you're talking to. We don't need to resort to awkward small talk," she sighed, "I know what you want to ask me, but not here, okay? I just want to enjoy tonight. Please."

"Of course Em. Whenever you are ready to talk I'm here." He smiled and grabbed her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. His smile then turned into a cheeky grin.

"I have an idea," He said, not letting go of her hand, "Let's dance!" He then tugged on Emma's hand, pulling her out on to the dance floor.

"Will!" she yelled laughing, "The kids are going to be scarred for life seeing their teachers bust a move."

"Eh," he shrugged as he started to do some break dancing moves as Emma swayed, boogieing to the music, "I think they'll survive." He then grabbed onto Emma leading her as they danced a very amateur version of the jive while the latest top 40 songs blasted in the background.

"Will, kids are starting to stare," Emma noted, still smiling.

"Let them!" he laughed as he twirled and dipped her. After a few moments of swaying and jumping and laughing the song changed to a different one with a much slower tempo and Will and Emma's dancing came to an abrupt halt. They took a step back from each other and assessed the situation.

"_This song is for all you lovely couples out there." _Murmured the DJ. Will hesitated, then sighed and stuck his hand out to Emma.

"May I have this dance?" he asked politely.

Noticing a slight shift in their dynamic, Emma simply nodded and placed her left hand in his and rested her right hand on his shoulder. Will then used his other arm to wrap it around Emma's waist as he pulled her closer. She rested her head on his chest and they both swayed to the music as the lyrics to the song started to play.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful__  
><em>_Stop me and steal my breath.__  
><em>_And emeralds from mountains thrust toward the sky__  
><em>_Never revealing their depth.__  
><em>_Tell me that we belong together,__  
><em>_Dress it up with the trappings of love.__  
><em>_I'll be captivated,__  
><em>_I'll hang from your lips,__  
><em>_Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above._

"Thank you." Emma lifted her head from Will's chest and looked into his eyes. Hazel was met with green.

"For what?" Will asked.

"Being here for me tonight. You didn't have to—" She started.

"Emma, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm here for you." Will then pulled Emma flush against him and swayed with her, dancing cheek to cheek. He then simply whispered, "Always."

_I'll be your crying shoulder,__  
><em>_I'll be love's suicide__  
><em>_I'll be better when I'm older,__  
><em>_I'll be the greatest fan of your life._

Emma's breath caught in her throat as she felt Will's breath on her ear. She wanted him. She needed him. She was hopelessly in love with him. Will pulled back and gazed into her eyes and she gazed back. Emma noticed his eyes quickly dart down to her lips. As if there were a magnetic pull drawing them together, Emma and Will's faces moved closer and closer together until their foreheads were touching. Emma shut her eyes and drew in a shaky breath. She felt Will's hand move from her lower back to cup her cheek. What they were doing was completely unprofessional, especially at prom. However, part of her didn't care. She wanted this more than anything in the world. Still, Emma was absolutely terrified putting herself out there like that again. So, being the woman she was, Emma panicked. Pulling away from Will she frantically exclaimed,

"I uh, left some paperwork in my office that I just remembered I need to take care of."

"Emma," Will pleaded.

"It's uh awfully hot in here. I have to go. I'm sorry." She urged, making an excuse as she turned away from him and ran towards the exit. Will then sprinted over to Jesse and Rachel who were standing a few feet away from him, observing the entire spectacle before them.

"Jesse, I'm holding you responsible, can you keep this prom under control for ten minutes?"

"Absolutely, Mr. Schue," Rachel exclaimed, answering for Jesse, "Jesse's been trained in CPR and knows how to work a defibri—," she shouted.

Will was out the door on Emma's trail before Rachel had even finished talking.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the positive feedback. You have no idea how much it means to me. This update is going to be my last for about at least a week or so. I'm in college and I have finals this week, so I'll be pretty busy. However, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and leave me some reviews. They help me write faster!

Also, I do not own Glee. The rights to the show belong to Ryan Murphy and Fox.

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Once Emma made it out of the gymnasium doors she took off in a sprint. She did not have a destination in mind; she just wanted to run, to be able to breathe again. She felt horrible. Again, she ran away from the one man who she truly loved and he loved her back, all because she was afraid. Emma was so tired of feeling broken, vulnerable, and fragile. She knew she was stronger than this. Her therapy sessions with Dr. Shane had helped prove that. She was getting better. Tonight was a different story though.

Emma ran and came to a dead end. She turned down a different hallway at McKinley and ran by Figgin's office. Memories from a year prior had instantly flooded her head. She recalled stopping Figgins from cutting Glee Club. She recalled Will professing his love for her. That was the last time he had kissed her. As much as she gave him hell for his sneak attack kisses, she yearned for them. She yearned for him. However, at this point Emma felt as if she ruined everything. So she continued running, just wanting to escape. Unfortunately, her heels were not equipped for late night sprints, and one of them snapped, causing Emma to stumble in the hall. Not wanting to waste time, she left the broken heel and took off out the side doors of the high school. Emma staggered over to the nearest bench, not even caring that her bare feet were covered in dirt. She then realized she was sitting on _their _bench. The one in which Will was her knight in shining armor and scraped gum off of her favorite Mary Jane's. It was at this moment of realization that Emma put her head in her hands completely broke down.

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><p>Will pushed open the doors of the gymnasium and ran. He wasn't letting her get away, not this time. Emma moved fast, but Will was on her tail. The echoes from her heels paired with the faint scent of perfume in the air lead Will on his wild goose chase. As Will ran, making his decent down the hallway, <em>their<em> hallway to be exact, he was greeted with the memory of his and Emma's first kiss. That day she was so close to leaving McKinley, to leaving him. No, he was definitely not letting her run away this time. He stopped her then. He could most certainly stop her from doing anything brash now.  
>Will noticed something sparkling at the end of the hallway by the wall of windows. It was a silver shoe, more specifically, Emma's silver shoe. He stopped for a moment to look at it. Lifting it up, he noticed the three inch heel barely hanging onto the peep-toed pumps. Will sighed. He had no idea where she had gone. Frustrated, Will ran his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth trying to figure out his next move. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something moving outside. Looking closer, he realized who it was. Emma was sitting outside with her face in her hands; her body shaking from what Will presumed was sobs. He quickly exited the side door of the high school and proceeded over to Emma with caution.<p>

Emma heard someone walking towards her, but she didn't need to look up to know who it was. He slowly edged his way closer to her. She stopped crying and wiped her eyes, but kept her face in her hands, too ashamed to look at him. Emma felt the warmth radiating from his body as he quietly sat down next to her. Sounding hurt, he murmured, "Lose something, Cinderella?"

She tensed as she felt him gently grab her foot, brushing the dirt off of it as he placed her heel back on her foot. He then proceeded to repeat the same process with her other foot. _Prince Charming_ she thought to herself. Will then reclaimed his place on the bench and waited. Ten minutes had passed in silence. Emma had no idea what to say to him. So much needed to be said, but she had no idea how or when to do it. Finally, something came over her. She wasn't sure if she was having a grand epiphany, if this was her growing from therapy or what. She then murmured,

"To hell with it." She lifted her face from her hands. Will, who was playing with his tie looked over at her.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Emma looked into his eyes.

"I'm in love with you," she declared. Will was dumbfounded. She finally told him. After over a year of pining over this woman, Emma Pillsbury finally revealed that she was in love with him. He was speechless.

"Emma, I-" he started.

"No, Will," Emma cut him off, "Please just…just let me get this all out." He shut his mouth and nodded, letting her continue.

"I'm in love with you." She wiped her eyes as a grin started to grow on her face, "I've always been in love with you." She paused.

"Will, you are the one person in my life who has always been so kind and encouraging. You don't care that I have problems with the messy things in life or that I am thirty-two years old and have never been intimate with a man."

She continued. "You aren't helping me get better to make your life more convenient. If it weren't such a big deal to me, you would have me just the way I am. On top of that, I see how you are with your students and the Glee kids, Will. They all idolize you. _We_ all do. In fact, while I enjoy placing you on a pedestal…" she paused as she grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

"I think it was the reason why we failed to work as a couple last year." Her smile that had just resided on her face was now gone.

"I'll ashamedly admit, I thought you were flawless, this perfect individual. I overlooked the fact that when we were together, you were a broken man and at the time, I still had a lot of issues that I needed to work through on my own. All I cared about was the fact that you were there and you wanted me. It was my dream come true. However, at the sign of your first fault I did what I do best, which was panic and run away." Her breath started to become uneven.

"And then there was Carl" she murmured as Will's body began to tense up beside her.

"Carl was new, exciting, and had exceptionally good oral hygiene." With a shaky breath she continued.

"I thought I loved him. Well, I did love him, just as I love any of my friends or acquaintances. He was nice, someone I could confide in, and he lacked any baggage that I was so afraid of. When he asked me to marry him, I couldn't say no. He was handsome, intelligent, had a stable job and was in love with me. I couldn't get a better deal than that. I thought maybe…just maybe if I gave it some time, I could fall in love with him too."

"However, that day never came. It was then that I realized I gave my heart away a long time ago," she squeezed his hand, "and I never seemed to get it back."

"Will," she began as tears started to fall down her face, "I am sorry." She sobbed.

"I am so sorry. I have hurt you so much over the past year. I never should have run away, and I never should have married Carl, especially because you, the one person who I am truly, madly, deeply in love with, has been there waiting for me all along."

Emma took a moment to wipe her eyes and compose herself a little bit.

"I ran away tonight because I am absolutely terrified, Will. I am so broken, and so afraid to put myself out there again. But I love you, and I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Emma stopped talking. Silence overtook the couple. Their eyes remained locked as they sat there in the dark. Will lifted his hand and wiped the remaining tears on Emma's cheeks with the pad of his thumb. Without moving his hand, he whispered, "Stop running."

"What?" Emma asked.

"You said you didn't know what to do, that you were tired of hurting me," Will stated as he started to inch his face closer to Emma's, "stop running. His lips were now mere centimeters away from hers. He took a breath.

"Stop running…and kiss me," he whispered.

Without any hesitation, Emma closed the gap between her and Will. She softly, but urgently pressed her lips against his. The kiss was brief, but full of promise, full of hope. Will and Emma pulled apart, resting their foreheads against each other for the second time that evening. They sat there in that position with their eyes closed for a few minutes, drinking everything in.

"Em?" Will prompted.

"Hmm?" she whispered.

"I love you too," he declared as his face broke out into a grin and he opened his eyes, "more than you'll ever know…God, you have no idea how badly I've wanted to say that to you."

Emma chuckled and kissed him again. This time wrapping her arms around his neck, making the kiss much deeper and passionate in comparison to the one they had shared moments before. After a few moments they both pulled away, sighing in contentment.

"I missed you," Emma admitted as she played with the hair at the back of Will's neck.

"I missed you too," Will agreed as he cupped her cheek.

"And now," she started, "I can just lean in and kiss you whenever I want to…and I want to." She then leaned in and pecked him on the lips.

"Hmm…that sounds vaguely familiar," Will murmured as he kissed her again. Pulling away, Will sighed took Emma's hands into his own.

" Emma, as much as I adore you and want this," he started, "I think..."

"What is it Will?" Emma asked. "You can tell me."

"I think we need to take this…whatever we're doing, and move exceptionally slow. Last time, we jumped into things fast. I was still broken and because of that, we faltered. And now, the roles are reversed. However, I'm not losing you this time. I want us to finally work, hence why I think we need to move in baby steps."

"Baby steps," Emma agreed.

"Baby steps," Will grinned.

"So Cinderella," he started, "how about we get you back inside to the ball? Or do you have to go because your car is turning into a pumpkin at midnight?"

"Oh Will, "Emma shook her head laughing, "While I would love nothing more than to go back into the hot sweaty gym filled with germy and hormonal teenagers, my shoe is broken. I can't walk or dance in them."

"Hmm…," Will pondered. His face then broke out into a grin.

"I have an idea."


End file.
